No one gets married with the intention of getting a divorce. But certain situations may arise in the life of a person where divorce may seem to be the only way as well as the best option to come out of the situation. Divorce can turn out to be a bitter and ugly experience for a person if not dealt with properly. There are many legal nuances associated with this entire procedure, and in such a scenario a matrimonial lawyer can be your best guide. Matrimonial lawyers are specialized to deal with each and very aspect relate to wedding and divorce.

Well handling divorce cases are not the only things which a matrimonial lawyer does for his/her client. Drawing up a prenuptial agreement is another aspect of wedding where a matrimonial lawyer can help you out. Prenuptial is an agreement which is drawn up by couples prior to the marriage. Ideally, a prenuptial agreement includes settlement of any dispute which may come up if a couple decides to separate or divorce. The contents of a prenuptial agreement differ from couple to couple.

If it happens that you want to seek divorce from your spouse, you must take the help of a matrimonial lawyer to deal with the situation. There are many things that need to be dealt when a couple seeks divorce. First of all fix an appointment with your attorney and tell him what exactly you want. There can be a situation where you find that many things are at stake and those things may take an ugly turn if you do not seek legal aid.

Seeking the services of a matrimonial lawyer New York is all fine, but you will have to be very careful to actually find out a good attorney to represent your case. Well there are law firms that specialize in dealing with matrimonial and divorce cases. What you need to do is find out the lawyer who has the best success are of dealing with such cases. Lawyers charge a huge sum from their clients and matrimonial lawyers are no exception to this rule.

Generally, it is assumed by people that a lawyer who is very successful will charge very high fees. While this may be true in some cases, this is not always the case. So be sure that you do not get swayed by reputation and big names. Find out if the lawyer is actually capable of handling your case or not, before you hire his/her services. While communicating with the lawyer, have a heart to heart talk with him about his fees. This will help you in being financially prepared to fight the case.

If you are serious about finding out a good matrimonial lawyer to deal with your case, you need to take some time out of your schedule to find the lawyer who will do the best work for you. Checking out with the lawyer’s former clients is a very good way of going about doing this. From the testimonials, you will be able to know first hand about the capabilities and shortcomings of the lawyer that you plan to hire. Do not settle for the second best matrimonial lawyer to deal with your case.

Hadiya Robins is a legal expert. She works for Pulversthompson and gives advice to clients who are looking for Immigration Lawyer New York,Matrimonial lawyer New York,Injury lawyer new york.For legal advice and to get services of a Lawyer in New York visit www.pulversthompson.com http://www.pulversthompson.com .

AFP - The Iraqi military imposed a curfew on the city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, on Tuesday after a suicide bomber killed three people and wounded seven in the Al-Qaeda stronghold.

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Spammers have done their best to give email marketing a bad name. However, email is such an all pervasive communication tool that it’s use as an extremely effective means of building customer relationships and selling products and services remains un-dented. Imagine trying to run your business today without access to email - it would be impossible. In fact, surveys have found that the vast majority of internet users site email as their primary reason for using the internet, despite the spammers best efforts.

While we’re on the subject of spam, here’s a quick word to the wise, don’t do it!

It’s a really effective way of upsetting future clients and associating your company, products and services with dodgy Viagra, porn and scam artists. Most importantly, spam doesn’t work. It’s as simple as that.

However, opt-in email marketing is exploding because it does work. Companies are lured to it by incredibly low costs and high response rates. It’s easy to get started and it puts any organisation, large or small, on a level playing field.

Of course, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do anything and the vast majority of email marketers are getting it wrong. The industry is young and those who are doing well are not falling over themselves to share the secrets of their email marketing success with competitors. But there is some good news. Unlike conventional direct marketing pieces, email marketing is both cheap and easy to test and the results can be comparatively easy to collate and analyse.

If that’s the case then why do so many of the marketing emails that I receive get just about everything wrong? And why don’t the senders ever seem to learn from their mistakes?

Learn from your mistakes

The advantage that email marketing has over pretty much any other type of marketing is it’s trackability. Instant, live results from your marketing campaign were a marketers dream just a few, short years ago. Now they are a reality but not everyone is taking advantage.

Emailing your database from Outlook or using bulk email sending software is usually a waste of time for both you and the recipient. The main reason being that you get little or no feedback, unless a recipient chooses to email you back. True, you can set up a read receipt in Outlook but that only tells you a very small part of the story. Imagine if you could tell, at a glance, who isn’t interested in your services and really doesn’t want to hear from you again (don’t waste any more of your valuable time on them). Or who opened your email and read it repeatedly (wow, those people must really be interested!) Better still, imagine if they clicked directly through to your website and you knew what link they clicked on (you would know exactly what interested them). Useful stuff like that!

Fortunately all that information is really easy to obtain if you use a good email marketing tool like www.livewirecampaign.co.uk rather than Outlook. There might be a learning curve of a few days but it’s worth it to make your emails 100% more effective, right?

With this kind of marketing intelligence you can really start to harness the power of email, because email can give you something special - instant, live, two-way communication from every address you deliver to. That’s right, every single one. Even emails that bounce back tell you something - it’s likely those addresses are dead and you need to update your database. If you are getting 20% opens and only 22% reads then you know something about your email isn’t connecting with your recipients. If it was, they would be reopening the email to re-read it or show it to the boss, so you would be getting a much higher percentage of ‘reads’ to ‘opens’.

With this kind of in-depth information you can begin to learn from what you are getting right and what you are getting wrong. You can begin to mould your campaigns and target your messages. Improve your response rates and follow up on click throughs. In essence, learn from your mistakes and find out what works for you.

To start you on the right track. Here are 5 tried and tested ways of improving the effectiveness of your emails.

1. Keep your subject lines short and to the point. Longer than 40 characters and they’ll be cut off by many email clients. Don’t use words like OFFER or FREE or exclamation marks for emphasis!!! You’ll be relegated to the spam folder.

2. Keep it simple stupid. Don’t make your emails too long or try to cram in to many offers. You’ve got a second or so to grab your readers attention so keep it concise.

3. Let your readers know what to do next. Put a clear call to action on your email. A link to your website or your telephone number, big and bold.

4. Make it time limited. Putting a deadline on your email has been proven to increase response rates. Make it clear to your recipients that if they snooze they loose!

5. Time it right. Don’t send your email at 10′o’clock on a Monday morning when everyone is manic. It’s going to get deleted. Timing is everything so choose a time of day when your recipient will be more receptive.

Pay close attention to just these five rules and I guarantee you will improve your response rates. Good luck and remember the power of email marketing. Customer knowledge!

Anthony Braide is Managing Director of Gencia Media Ltd, makers of LiveWireCampaign.co.uk http://LiveWireCampaign.co.uk

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Does the idea that good food has to take a long time to make keep you from spending time cooking? There are many ways to help speed and efficiency in the kitchen. The arrangement of your kitchen, as well as the tools you use, make all the difference. Don’t give up on trying to expand your skills and abilities. Try these suggestions to make gourmet cooking well within your time constraints.

You might have heard the old adage, a place for everything and everything in its place. This is a great time saving practice. Put the same things in the same place in your kitchen and work area. You will not waste time trying to find things and get frustrated. Tools and items that are frequently used should be placed accessible and easy to get. The bowl or platter you only use at Thanksgiving can be placed in the basement or in the back of the cupboard. It is also worth noting that you won’t know if something works until you try it and you might make changes as time goes by. Don’t be afraid to reorganize or adjust.

The smell of bread baking alone is enough to make the senses ripple with pleasure. Don’t deny your home of the enticing aromas of fresh baked goods that relax and invigorate the soul because you think they take too long. If you are among the population that think making homemade bread is a horribly long process that you do not have time for, invest in a mixer, it does all the work! While the ingredients combine you can spend your time checking a recipe, loading the dishwasher, or making a call. When choosing a mixer consider the quart size capacity of the bowl and wattage of the mixer. This is important because a smaller, less powerful machine will not be able to handle some quantity of ingredients. More time will be spent mixing by hand and cleaning up than if you would have done it without the machine to start with. Another important thing to note about a free standing mixer is their ability to do so many different tasks. Whipping, whisking, blending, and kneading, can all be done without you participating at all. Not only does this save time, but it also saves effort, freeing up up energy for other aspects of preparation.

Another time saving product that will help you cook like a pro is a food processor. Different jobs need different sizes and so it is recommended to have a smaller and larger capacity processor. Chopping onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, nuts, etc. is quick and easy. Those items you frequently use do not need to take so much time to prepare. Use the tools that speed your work and you will be more apt to do more of it.

One of the most frustrating and time taking occurrences is running out of measuring cups or spoons because they are dirty. More than one set is needed to cook efficiently. If a cup is only used for dry ingredients it is not a problem, or if you can do all the dry ingredients first and then the wet, you solve the problem, but usually they are interchanged as you cook. Two to three sets will allow you to be quick in measuring without having to stop and wash (and then thoroughly dry) measuring tools while you cook. Having a set of odd sized cups and spoons makes cooking and baking faster and easier also. A two cup, one and a half cup, 2 tablespoon, half teaspoon measures are a great time and ease saver.

These products are worth the space they take up. The time saved making delicious dinners, breads and treats will allow you to spend time that you want to working or playing without sacrificing making good food yourself. Cooking gives so much more to a person that food on the table. It allows for relaxation, contemplation, creativity and enjoyment. Free up unnecessary time spent in your kitchen and become the gourmet cook you have always wanted to be, but thought it just took too much time.

Emma Snow is a gourmet and freelance writer. Writing for Gourmet Living www.gourmet-living.com http://www.gourmet-living.com and BBQ Shop www.bbq-shop.net http://www.bbq-shop.net .

AP - The Homeland Security Department gave evaluation scores for 17 sites that were competing for a new laboratory to study human and animal diseases, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press.

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The grocery store can be a pretyy hazardous place when you’re trying to stick with a healthy diet. It offers both the healthy foods you need as well as the opportunity to buy all kinds of unhealthy foods.

Today we’ll go over some of the basic rules for shopping for healthy foods. You probably know some of them, so think of this as a reminder to follow the rules for them to work.

Never shop on an empty stomach. This is the best way to ensure that you will buy things you don’t need. It is much easier to give in to temptation if you’re hungry.

Read the labels on canned goods. For example, you want to be sure to buy canned fruits that are packed in juice or lite syrup when juice is not available, not heavy syrup. You want tuna packed in water.

Look for the words “hydrogenated”or “partially hydrogenated”. The earlier these appear on the ingredients list, the worse it is. These fats are unhealthy, so avoid them when you can.

When choosing poultry, try to get skinless varieties. Much of the fat in poultry is in the skin. Chicken breasts have much less fat than legs and thighs.

Frozen dinners can be deceptive. Take a look at how many calories they really contain, as well as fat, sodium and cholesterol.

Aren’t getting enough calcium? If milk and cheese really aren’t to your taste, pick up some calcium fortified orange juice. The taste is great.

When buying bread and pasta, look for whole grain products. There is a difference between wheat bread and whole wheat bread.. Also give brown rice a try.

Switch your snack foods. Pretzels, some baked crackers, ginger snaps and angel food cake are relatively low in fat. If you’re watching your salt intake, of course, pretzels should be off the list.

Above all, make a list of the things you really need to buy. You don’t have to rely on your memory, risking the need to go back to the grocery store more often than necessary, and you can better avoid temptation.

Stephanie Foster started www.makehealthymeals.com/ http://www.makehealthymeals.com/ to provide a resource to help families eat healthier food. She provides a variety of recipes at www.makehealthymeals.com/category/recipes/ http://www.makehealthymeals.com/category/recipes/

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You proposed and she said yes! Now that you’re officially engaged, the chaos begins. This planning a preparation time often makes you feel as if you want to elope or better yet, ship your fiance off to the funny farm. You can survive this crazy engagement with a little bit of patience and a little bit of romance. Yes, I said romance. At times, it may be the last thing on your mind, but a little extra love and romance during this time will strengthen your relationship and make it even stronger for the future. Read through these 10 tips to help you keep the romance alive during your engagement.

Take Pictures — Lots of them!

Your fiance is so busy during this time that she’s often not thinking about enjoying the planning process itself. This is where you come in by taking pictures throughout the engagement and wedding planning process. Snap photos at any event that she won’t be present at (your bachelor party, tux fittings, etc). Keep the camera at hand and snap photos anytime you see an opportune moment, such as her and her bridesmaids putting together favors or her and her mom addressing the invitations. After the wedding, put it all together in a photo album or scrapbook for her.

Always Agree.

Ok, not really. Be honest when your fiance asks your opinion and make suggestions, but don’t be overly picky. If you feel strongly about it, whether it be the reception site, ceremony site, your vows, or even a cake flavor, speak up! Your fiance is likely very stressed during this time, so pick your fights carefully. If you don’t have a strong opinion on something, just go with the flow.

Offer to Help.

Brides usually start planning right away and generally end up in control of the entire planning process. In fact, your fiance probably purchased a wedding planner the day after you proposed. If you’re deeply involved in the whole process, then you can skip this step. If not, make an offer to help with different aspects of the planning process and then let her take you up on it. When she does ask for help, do everything you can to get it done and make it easy.

Stop talking.

Ban all wedding talk on certain days of the week. Enjoy a dinner together and talk about what you did during the day, current events, friends & family, a good book, etc. Reconnect and talk like you did before wedding planning consumed your lives.

Date Again.

Make sure that you ‘date’ like you used did before the engagement. Go out to dinner or see a new movie. You’ll have fun together and reconnect away from the wedding stress. If you stumped for a date idea, check out these date ideas for a fun night.

Pamper her.

This time period is a whirlwind of highs, lows, and complete craziness. De-stress your fiance with a little bit of romantic pampering. Surprise her with flowers. Set up a sensual bubble bath by candlelight and let her relax alone (or together if she chooses).

Just say no to your family.

Bickering families are a requirement during the engagement period. Well, maybe not a requirement, but it’s pretty much guaranteed to occur, so be prepared. Set the guidelines, make sure your families are aware of these guidelines, and then stick to them. If you set a maximum guest list number and they try to add additional names, just say no. If they’re unhappy with the dinner selections, cake flavor, wedding location, or anything else, gently remind them that this is your wedding. You may have a little more difficulty with this if your parents are paying for the wedding, but even in that case, set the boundaries up in the beginning to keep disagreements from happening down the road. If everyone plans happily, the two of you will be happier together.

Go away for the weekend.

Take a weekend getaway together to pick up the romance. Pick a romantic bed & breakfast in a nearby city and spend the whole weekend in bed together. Order in all of your food, watch a few movies, and talking… keep all wedding talk at home though.

Words of love.

Your engagement and wedding offers many opportunities for expressing your love via words. Write your fiance a letter to open on the morning of your wedding. Add a few love quotes, poems, or phrases that express your feelings for her. Talk to your fiance about writing your own vows. Writing your own vows allows you to personalize your ceremony and express your love to your wife-to-be on the most important day of your lives.

Have fun together!

If you do nothing else, just have fun. Lighten the mood with a little icing on the nose when you’re cake tasting. Practice dancing to your song together, walking down the aisle, or picking crazy songs for your reception. It’s these types of funny moments that make you remember why you’re doing this in the first place. The stress of planning lasts only a short time, but the fun and loving times you experience are what make the memories that you’ll never forget.

Amy Cunningham is the editor of RomanceStuck Romantic Ideas, a romantic resource for finding love and staying in love.

AFP - A giant inflatable dog turd by American artist Paul McCarthy blew away from an exhibition in the garden of a Swiss museum, bringing down a power line and breaking a greenhouse window before it landed again, the museum said Monday.

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The age of Internet shopping is taking over the world, and even the brick and the trend is even affecting the brick and mortar store with more and more customers wanting to shop on the Internet. In order to stay competitive, a store must not only have a physical location, but it must be willing to have a website from which customers can shop. It’s no longer enough to have a website for customers to see what the store sells, but it must offer an online storefront so that shoppers can make purchases from the privacy of their own homes.

In order for a merchant to have a successful online storefront, it’s important that he install reliable and easy to use shopping cart software. For those who are new to online shopping and don’t understand the purpose of the shopping cart, let us explain a little about the process. Before the introduction of shopping card software, an online shopper had to purchase each product he wanted individually unless the merchant had an order form where the shopper could include several items. As eCommerce became more popular, the importance of a better system became pertinent. If eCommerce were going to become the wave of the future, merchants would have to make it quick and easy for customers to place an order. Thus, the eCommerce solution was the development of shopping cart software that allows a shopper to make purchases and place them in a shopping cart much as you do at the grocery store and pay for everything when you have finished shopping and are ready to proceed to checkout.

Shopping cart software has opened an entire new media for the online shopper, and as a result, eCommerce has exploded all over the Internet with the introduction of stores like Amazon.com who do not even have a brick and mortar store. Yes, they have a brick and mortar building, but that is a packaging and shipping facility only, not a store where you can walk in and purchase what you like. Amazon is probably the first store of its type on the Internet, but many more have opened since then. Today, instead of just books and videos, Amazon distributes products for a great deal of retailers including ToysRUs. The technology of the shopping cart software has opened up an entire new era of shopping throughout the world, and at the holidays, it’s even bigger as people flock to their keyboards and monitors instead of the malls as they used to do.

How has the trend toward eCommerce shopping affected retailers with a concrete building, especially during peak seasons such as Christmas and Easter? For those who are innovative and determined enough to enter the eCommerce market, the seasons will show a boost in business, but for those who choose to limit their business to walk-in trade, they are likely to see a reduction in the sales volume compared to the previous year’s figures. With people’s busy schedules and the price of gasoline, online shopping is becoming more attractive to the average shopper, especially with the ease of using shopping cart software and the attractive online storefront websites that are available. Interactive websites draw customers to their products with music, games, animation, and other tools that catch the attention of a potential buyer.

New merchants should certainly not hesitate to add a shopping cart feature from the start unless your business is only one product and no choices such as color or size. For instance, if you are selling a book you wrote, and it’s only in one format, then there is no need to have a shopping cart. If, however, you offer the same book in hardcover, paperback, and eBook format, a shopping cart may be a good idea in case a buyer wants to buy more than one copy in different formats. Of course, if you have a multi-product eCommerce site, to operate without a shopping cart is courting disaster. Some of the reasons for adding shopping cart technology to your eCommerce site include:

- It allows a shopper to save his purchases and return later to finish shopping

- A shopper can return to his shopping cart and increase or decrease the number of items he wants to purchase

- A shopper as an opportunity to remove products from his shopping cart without deleting the entire order

- Shopping cart software also allows the buyer to track what products he ordered and allows the seller to include shipping information

The shopping cart software makes it easier for the seller as well because he does not have to keep track of numerous orders, and it allows him to see everything a buyer ordered at one time. In many cases, a shopping cart is also connected to online inventory so that a seller knows if he has enough of the product to fulfill his orders. It also allows him to track what customers have bought and thus know what may interest a customer for the future.

Copyright (c) 2006 WebCart

Michael Moshkovich is a web developer and internet marketer who has written over 50 articles on SEO, shopping cart software and PPC marketing. To learn more about WebCart visit us at www.webcart.net http://www.webcart.net .

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Few people would think of walking as cure for many of the ailments we all accept as part of our modern lifestyle but it is now recognised as one of the best exercises you can do at any age.

* Walking helps regulate the heart.

* Walking, it is believed, can boost the immune system causing the body to produce killer cells which will destroy any germ cells they do not recognise. However to achieve this you must walk every day.

* Walking increases blood flow and raises oxygen levels in the body. This in turn stimulates the immune system and helps repair tissue damage.

* Walking burns off calories.

* Walking minimises your risk of bowel cancer (according to a report by the US Surgeon General).

* Walking makes you feel better and helps reduce stress that is part of our modern daily life.

* Walking has long been prescribed by doctors and chiropractors for people with low back pain.

These are just some of the benefits of regular walking and apart from the cost of a good pair of shoes - it’s free!

If you suffer from low back problems you should consider including walking as part of your regular daily exercise routine. If your neighbourhood is one where you don’t feel comfortable walking then think about joining a gym and get on the treadmill with your IPOD or MP3 player.

A recent study by UCLA researchers found that a group of low back pain patients who did 3 hours brisk walking per week had considerably less pain and distress than a group who were given specific low back exercises.

Before you grab your walking shoes and rush outside there are a few points to consider if you want to reap the maximum benefit from your walking.

The first is stretching. Always do a few gentle stretches before and after your walk - find out from your healthcare practitioner what stretches are the most suitable for yourself.

The muscles should always be warm before stretching, and the stretch should always be gentle. Current research indicates that the stretch should be held for at least 30 seconds to be fully effective. Always ensure that your breathing is relaxed and rhythmic - holding your breath will make any stretch ineffective. It is also important to stretch on both sides to maintain symmetry. As a general rule do warm up stretching exercises starting at the top of your body and work downward.

Here are some examples of suitable stretches for walking. Please note that these are for illustrative purposes only. You should consult a dedicated book or worksheet before doing these stretches.

HEAD ROLLS - rotate your head around so you end up with your ear near your shoulder then go the other way. Repeat this several times, and then do some arm circles.

HIP STRETCH - hold on to a chair and bend your right knee, keep your spine straight and upright. Lean forward slightly and keep the left leg straight. Hold for 30 seconds. Switch sides.

LEG STRETCH - stand erect and hold onto a wall or a chair for support. Now bend one knee behind you so that you can grasp your foot. Hold your foot against your bottom and gently push your knee gently back as far as you can.

Hold for 30 seconds, and then repeat with the opposite leg.

CALF STRETCH - keep your spine straight and push lightly against a wall with open palms. Place one leg forward with knee bent - this leg will have no weight put on it. Keep other leg back and straight with and heel down. Gently move your hips toward the wall until you feel a stretch. Hold 30 seconds. Repeat with other leg.

HAMSTRING STRETCH - place your foot on a bench or chair with your toe pointing upwards. You should be standing far enough away such that your leg is straight. Bend forward slightly from the waist keeping one hand on the raised leg so that you feel your hamstring stretch. Hold for 30 seconds then repeat with the other leg.

Secondly is posture. There is no point in walking if your posture is all wrong. Before you set out try this simple check. Stand with your back against a closed door. Try to align your shoulders against the door. Now try touching the door with the back of your head, your buttocks and your heels at the same time. If you can manage this then your body is in the correct alignment.

Try taking your first few steps with your head held high, looking straight ahead. Keep those tummy muscles pulled in. Try to avoid leaning forward when you walk. Don’t worry if you find walking like this a bit strange at first concentrate initially on holding your head high looking straight ahead after a few days you will find your are starting to walk more upright

Thirdly and equally important is footwear. If you suffer from lower back problems consider investing in a good pair of walking shoes or boots. You should wear comfortable, low-heeled shoes that provide good arch support. The best shoe for one person may not necessarily be the most suitable for another. It may even pay dividends to visit a podiatrist to see if it would be to your advantage to have heel inserts.

If you are new to walking start off gently, do not overdo it for the first few sessions. Gradually build up to walking at least 30 minutes each day - this is believed to be sufficient to decrease your risk of heart disease. If you can build it up to an hour per day it is believed you will decrease your risk of breast cancer and type two diabetes.

The information in this article should not be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease. You should always consult with your health care professional as to the suitabilty of walking or any exercises described in this article and especially for health matters that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

Bill Morrison has his own website www.help4urback.com http://www.help4urback.com where he describes his own personal experiences coping with lower back pain and sciatica. He also includes personal recommendations for people who suffer from sciatica or lower back pain including what books to buy, TENs machines, and what web sites to check out.

AFP - Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard ended speculation about his future by signing a new five-year contract with the Premier League club on Wednesday.

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Giants crush you. Even in fairy tales it’s rare to find a nurturing giant - even lady giants are tough critters. And there are lots of giants on the web; all the world’s biggest offline companies plus the web’s home-grown efforts - Google, Amazon and the like.

So how can you, sitting in your fabled pajamas at the kitchen table make money against that lot? Well, until recently there was no way to really explain what everyone was telling you based on instinct, self-interest or outright ignorance: there is room for everyone on the web.

It’s called the ‘long tail: the economics of abundance’ and its guru is the editor of Wired Magazine Chris Anderson. Now don’t let that put you off, this is fascinating stuff! The summary is simple: regular offline business is ruled by scarcity, digital business simply isn’t!

Take a record store. They have so many feet of shelves and each CD takes up say half an inch. Result, the store can only carry so many CDs. So what do they do? They carry the ones that sell the most - the ‘hits.’

Now take iTunes: there is literally no limit to the inventory iTunes can carry. It sits in digital form and could be every song in every version ever recorded! The same is true of books: which is why Google is trying to snaffle them all first, and Apple is driving into video.

So what has this to do with you? Well two things: first the big web marketers have discovered that if you offer everything, everything sells something! Hence the term long tail.

Imagine the profile of a mouse standing on her back legs nose pointing in the air! The body of the mouse is the ‘hits’ with the biggest hit being the nose. The tail of the mouse (infinitely long) is the sales of everything else. The regular record store holds inventory corresponding to the body of the mouse. But, if you hold the inventory for free and it costs nothing to deliver it, then any sale out of the tail is pure profit! Wow! That’s the economics of abundance: and it’s only right now being understood.

But, I hear you object, that’s records, books, and videos. True, but the same applies to everything where the restrictions of scarcity are removed.

What’s eBay but a long tail of gazillions of real things? What’s Amazon, the long tail of books and anything else they can get their hands on? So it continues - the used book business after languishing for decades is booming after the dispersed and happenstance inventories held by individual stores were linked together into a single online database. The books are still in the stores, but the sales are global!

Now if you are an Amazon, or a Salesforce.com in software, or any of the other ‘aggregators’ of the ‘long tail’, you have five problems:

1. You need to put together the technology to hold the inventory and disperse it - expensive and technically finnicky, but straightforward

2. You need to create the tools that customers can use to search the long tail - which is VERY long. Search engines, recommendations, reviews all kinds of tools are emerging to provide filters at no cost to the company once they are in place.

3. You need to get your hands on the longest tail you can. Easier now Apple has broken through with the record industry, but really difficult if you want to have a long tail of TV shows - because of the problem of tracing down the music rights. Google may be in a battle, but the stakes in the ancient book long tail are huge hence its determination to scan everything ever published.

4. You need to capture the emerging long tail. These are the products and creative offerings that have not yet been conceived. You do this by giving away the tools of creation. Give away (virtually) the software to create new music and provide a guaranteed market.

5. You need to meet the sales needs of the provider - whether they are trying to make a go of it commercially or doing it for reasons of personal satisfaction. Put your book on Amazon and you can go in and tweak the marketing - and this is just the beginning.

So what are the implications for web home-based businesses?

It means first you can expect sales no matter if you are 1st or 5,000th on the tail.

It means you can find a place on the web through an aggregator for what ever you produce.

It means that multiple channels of distribution are opening that can have different roles in your mix. Let’s take a concrete example, that new book you just wrote.

* Well you could sell it yourself in electronic form, or

* Convert it into a physical book at Lulu (a ‘tail’ of self-pubished books) and end up with electronic and soft/hard copy versions yielding a higher net return.

* Lulu will submit it to Ingrams the book wholesalers and so it will find its way to the long tails run by Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the rest - for a different, lower return but a much higher exposure and access to the recommendations system.

* You could sell it through Clickbank - a long tail of Affiliates - and make 50% margin.

* Finally, you can sell or liquidate it through eBay!

If you have something to offer, a tail is emerging that you can join. And most important, it’s in everyone’s interest to keep the tail growing. On the web we have invented the ‘nurturing giant’. To me that spells perpetual opportunity!

And that’s no fairy story!

Michael Kay is Research Director of HBB Research a business school based research program looking at web home-based business. He is the lead author of HBB Research’s recent Report: The Gold Rush. To For more on The Gold Rush and to get your free subscription to HBB Insights, the ideas newsletter of HBB Research, go to www.hbbresearch.com/ http://www.hbbresearch.com/ .

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A borrower has certain responsibilities to take care of, once a loan is negotiated. In order to keep your loan in good standing, it is important to fulfill all your obligations. A lapse in making a single payment indicates delinquency. You could get into the default record if you continue to ignore your loan repayments. If you face any trouble in arranging funds for paying back your student loan, you need to contact the organization that provided the loan. There are chances that you may qualify for forbearance, deferment or any other form of payment relief.

In most of the cases, student loans do not require repayment until after graduation. Many fresh graduates do not find a suitable placement very quickly. However, after graduation, there is a six months grace period before the repayment schedule begins. Even though a student may identify a good job, he could initially be underpaid, leading to issues with the repayment of the loan.

There are several strategies that could be adopted to help you repay the loan. Student loan lenders and service providers offer several repayment options. You should check with your creditor to gather details on any such available plans. Repayment plans offer the following options:

- Graduated repayment: The payment is lower in the beginning and increases steadily over a period of time.
- Standard repayment: Interest payments and principals are due each month, throughout the repayment term.
- Income sensitive repayment: A percentage of the borrower’s monthly income forms the basis of calculating the monthly repayment, although this plan applies for certain account borrowers.
- Extended repayment: This incorporates lower monthly payments for an extended period of 25 years.
- Loan consolidation: You can consolidate several loans into one new loan, with a low interest rate and easy finance management opportunities.
- Prepayment: This can reduce your total cost of borrowing because most private student loans allow you to make payment of a part or your entire loan before the scheduled payment. This can be done anytime during the life of the loan.

In addition you should check:

- Your state might be offering programs that reduce or even cancel your loan if you perform certain services like, nursing or teaching. You can get in touch with the state agency for postsecondary education, to check if there are such programs available in your state.
- There are religious and civic organizations that provide certain benefits and aid in repayment.
- Your personal expenses may need to be analyzed and kept minimum. Try to keep your living expenses low initially.
- It is possible to apply for forbearance, deferment or any other payment relief programs.

Deferment: It is the temporary suspension of the loan payment if you re-enroll yourself in a school, are unemployed or facing any economic hardship.

Forbearance: This is also a reduction or postponement of the loan payment, temporarily, while you are in any financial difficulty.

Other forms: These may include graduate or income sensitive loans.

If you are facing financial difficulty and it is impossible for you to repay the loan immediately, you can always take refuge in these options. They not only help you to repay your loan easily, but also help you maintain a good credit report.

Joe Kenny writes for the UK Loans Store for loans UK and offer more information on student loans and other loan topics available on site.

AP - John McCain’s chief foreign policy adviser and his business partner lobbied the senator or his staff on 49 occasions in a 3 1/2-year span while being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the government of the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

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Having children isn’t cheap these days, especially in the long term - the older they get, the more they cost. Higher education prices continue to soar and it’s almost impossible to get onto the housing market without having some capital or homeowner loans. All of these things may seem so far ahead, especially if your child is very young, but now’s the time to start saving to ensure you can provide what your children need further down the line.

Surveys suggest that we’re starting to realise this. A report published by Mintel in October 2005 found that 75% of British parents with children under 14 are now saving for their children’s futures. Nearly six million parents are now saving for their children, compared to just under five million in 2003. So it’s evident that we understand the need to save, but it’s not always easy to do so. The day-to-day family finances can be difficult enough to manage without having to think about the future. This article provides some information on how to save for children and explains some of the financial products available.

Bank accounts

The first step that most parents take towards saving for their children is to open a savings account on their behalf and start making cash deposits. Most banks and building societies have accounts specially tailored for children. They often have a higher rate of interest and offer incentives such as membership of a kids’ savings club with regular newsletters, piggy banks, toys and badges. Even if you’re not sure how often you’ll be able to make deposits into the account, it’s a good idea to set one up as soon as possible after your child is born so that it’s there whenever you do have money to put aside. Try to get into the habit of putting in at least a small amount on a regular basis - setting up an automatic transfer from your bank account will make this much easier. Alternatively, simply depositing the government child benefit on a weekly basis will get you off to a good start - it’s amazing how quickly it builds up.

Tax

Children are subject to income tax on bank accounts just like adults.

They receive a tax allowance and as long as their total income including interest doesn’t exceed this allowance in the financial year, they will not be taxed on their interest. (The allowance for 2006-2007 is £5,035.) However, this only applies when the savings are gifted by a relative or friend. Interest on money gifted by parents will be subject to tax if the amount of interest earned in a year exceeds £100 per parent. (This prevents parents from taking advantage of children’s accounts for their own savings.) If your child’s annual income will be less than their tax allowance and the money you give them in a year will amount to less than £100 in interest, you can fill out an R85 form from the Inland Revenue to apply to have the interest paid without tax being deducted. It may be worth opening separate bank accounts if your child will be receiving money from yourself as well as relatives or friends, to save any confusion.

Child trust funds

The introduction of child trust fund by the government in 2005 has made a big difference in helping parents to save for their children. In the scheme, new parents are given a minimum of £250 to invest in a long-term savings and investment account on their children’s behalf, plus a further £250 when the child turns seven. The proceeds are held in trust for them until their 18th birthday. It’s not subject to tax and up to £1,200 can be invested each year by parents, family or friends.

There are three types of account - a savings account, a shares account and a stakeholder account. The choice you make will depend to a great extent on your attitude towards risk. Savings accounts are the safest method as you won’t lose money this way, but the returns on the investment tend not to be very high.

The shares account invest your child’s money by purchasing stock market shares. Investing in shares can be risky, especially in the short term, although on the whole the stock market can produce a good long-term returns as share values tend to rise more than they fall over a long period. As saving for children is normally a long-term approach, shares accounts can be an attractive option. However, shares can go down as well as up at any time and past performance isn’t necessarily an indicator of future performance. It’s also important to note that the account provider will normally charge an annual fee for managing the shares.

The stakeholder account is a medium risk option, which invests in shares until the child turns 13 and then the money is transferred to lower risk investments and assets, helping to limit potential losses in the lead-up to the child’s 18th birthday. However, if the stock market performs well over this period, the returns won’t be as high as they would have been if the money had remained in the higher risk investments.

You’ll need to choose not only which account you want for your child, but also which provider. Various different banks, buildings societies and financial organisations provide approved child trust fund accounts.

The government simply sends you a voucher for £250, which you’ll invest in the account and provider of your choice. All providers are of course regulated and must meet the terms and conditions stipulated by the government. However, there may be differences in the products they offer. Look out for fees charged and any requirements relating to how much you deposit and how frequently.

Other government-backed savings options

The National Savings and Investments Bank (formerly the Post Office Bank) is an agency of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was set up in 1861 by the Palmerston Government to help working people save for their futures and as a means of raising government funds for public spending.

It offers various safe and secure options for saving. Premium Bonds, for example, are a monthly large-value prize draw in which you can enter anything from £100 to £30,000. The jackpot can be up to £1million, but prizes of between £50,000 and £100,000 can be won for every bond number held. The prizes are tax-free and bonds can be bought by parents, relatives or friends on behalf of children under 16. Alternatively, indexed linked savings certificates are a great method of tax-free saving in which the value of your money increases in line with inflation (linked to the Retail Prices Index) at guaranteed interest rates. Between £100 and £15,000 can be invested per issue, and they are available to anyone over the age of seven (or can be bought on a child’s behalf if they are under seven).

There are lots of other possibilities for saving for your children - investments, stocks and shares, bonds, savings accounts, trust funds - not all of which are specifically designed for children. In such cases, you’ll need to manage the money on the child’s behalf until they reach 18 (or sometimes 21). To find out how you can best provide for your child’s future, you should visit a financial advisor who will be able to outline the most suitable options for you and your family.

Benedict Rohan works as a freelance finance writer. Commercial Mortgage, Homeowner Loans, Remortgages

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